Over the years since starting this blog, I have shared
with you that I would be as honest as I could be with my blog and share with
you the good and the bad. Following my surgery 2 ½ years ago my
nutritionist/nurse practitioner told me that my diabetes was in remission. Yes,
I left the hospital without any medication and have not taken any since the
days prior to the surgery but at any time my body could have a negative
response and it could come back at any time.
Every few months I have to have my blood drawn to have
my B12, vitamin D, iron, and A1C levels tested to name a few. Over the last year,
my A1C levels slowly started to climb. My nutritionist started to talk about
adding medication back into my routine. Oh how I did not want that to happen. Therefore,
I asked if we could wait a few more months and she agreed. She indicated that I
would have to have my blood tested again in December and along with my A1C,
they wanted to check my iron levels too.
So just before Christmas, I went in for an appointment
to find out the results of my blood tests and talk about some additional
concerns I had been having. I will admit I was scared to death; I did not want
to go back on medication for my blood sugar levels (did I say that already?). Well
I ended up with some good news and some not so bad news…or maybe I should say I
do not know how to take it news…
I will give you the news about the A1C first, which my
nutritionist did not lead with…had me a wreck the whole time…my blood sugar
levels dropped significantly!! Thank you Jesus…all is good on that front. On
the other front, my nutritionist was very concern about my iron levels. After
the surgery, my iron was fine but about a year ago, the numbers started to
drop. So my medical team instructed me to start taking an iron supplement. I
started to do that but the levels did not come up so then I had to increase the
amount I was taking. Obviously, it is not working and they are concerned. Not
knowing exactly what I can do to make this better, they are sending me to Cayuga
Hematology/Oncology Association…do not let the Oncology scare you…it is just
the specific work these doctors focus on. I am going to them for the hematology.
So this appointment will take place in mid-January 2019 and at this point, there
is not much else I can do but continue to take my iron supplements and wait to
see what these doctors have to say. I will keep you updated as soon as I hear
anything.
The next thing is the concern I brought to my appointment.
I will not go into too much detail but I have been having many GI issues. I cannot
pin point if it is a certain food that I am eating or something else. I had a
long talk with my nutritionist about this, she consulted with my surgeon, and
this is the plan: starting tomorrow, December 31, I will begin an elimination
diet. I will eliminate gluten and sugar for three weeks. Keeping a record of
what I was eating these two items seemed like they could be the culprit. My
nutritionist and surgeon were kind enough to let me start this after the
Christmas holiday. I also have an appointment with a Gastroenterologist later
in January.
Of course all of this is happening at the same time
that my Ironman training will begin to rev up on January 1st. Of
course I might as well get this all figured out now instead of later in the
season. I know that I could be in a lot worse of a situation and I am not
asking for sympathy, there are just a lot of unknowns right now as I face the beginning
of 2019. Some of this will be out of my control, so I will focus on what I can
control and look at this as another challenge. Some may say you might as well
make some lemonade out of the lemons that I have…provided I do not add any
sugar to it in the next three weeks!
Keep moving forward!
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